is a 1975 Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation of

Ouida Ouida (; 1 January 1839 – 25 January 1908) was the pseudonym of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé (although she preferred to be known as Marie Louise de la Ramée). During her career, Ouida wrote more than 40 novels, as well as sh ...

's 1872 novel of the same name, produced by

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City. Nippon Animation is known for producing numerous anime series based on works of ...

. 52 episodes were produced. A film version was released in 1997. The series represents the bond between a boy and his ever so faithful dog living in 19th century

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

. The emotional story shows the boy's struggles in life as his grandfather dies and leaves him with his dog. It shows how the hopes of becoming a great classical painter have been seemingly crushed by his grandfather's passing and the way he takes after that tragedy. The anime series is notable for being the first official entry in the

World Masterpiece Theater was a Japanese TV anime staple that showcased an animated version of a different classical book or story each year from 19:30 to 20:00 on Sunday on Fuji TV. It originally aired from 1969 to 1997 and from 2007 to 2009. Commonly abbreviated to ...

series (''Calpis Children's Theater'' at the time).

Production

The animators conducted extensive research on 19th century

Hoboken. Although it has to be said that a lot of features in the series are not Flemish but typically Dutch (the girl's hat and the tulips for example). The buildings depicted in the series were modeled after the

Bokrijk The Bokrijk Provincial Domain ( nl, Provinciaal Domein Bokrijk) is a park and museum complex near Genk, Province of Limburg in Belgium. It is known for its open-air museum which displays a large collection of historical buildings from across Flan ...

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

.. Although there have been some changes from the original story by Marie Louise de la Ramée, it has been faithful in keeping the storyline accurate.

Isao Takahata was a Japanese director, screenwriter and producer. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he earned international critical acclaim for his work as a director of Japanese animated feature films. Born in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture, Takahata joined Toei ...

and

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

also worked on the series, respectively as storyboard artist and key animator for episode 15. ''Dog of Flanders'' aired on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

between January 5 and December 28, 1975. Having gone into production before Zuiyo Eizo and Nippon Animation division, episodes 1-20 and 24-26 of the anime were still originally credited to Zuiyo and broadcast in the ''Calpis Comic Theater'' series. In subsequent DVD releases ''Calpis Children's Theater'' title card was kept in all 52 episodes. The series was repeated daily in early mornings in 2012.

Film

A feature film remake of the series, titled ''The Dog of Flanders'' or was released in March 1997. It was distributed by

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

. It grossed ¥243,543,645 at the box office. The film was released on VHS in 1999 and later released on DVD in March 2000.

Cast

Makoto Tsumura is a Japanese voice actress. She entered a training school attached to Ezaki Productions in 1991 and belonged to Mausu Promotion (formerly Ezaki Productions) from 1993 to 2007. After leaving Mausu, she worked as a freelancer from 2007 to Septembe ...

Brady Bluhm Brady Bluhm is an American actor. He played Christopher Robin in many ''Winnie the Pooh'' films. He has also played roles in ''Dumb and Dumber'', its sequel '' Dumb and Dumber To'', and the TV series '' Get a Life''. Bluhm was a member of the Churc ...

as Nello *

Sakura Tange is a Japanese voice actress, singer and writer who was born in Ichinomiya, Aichi. She is best known for providing the voice of Sakura Kinomoto in the anime series ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' and before that, she voiced some of SNK's characters, such ...

Debi Derryberry Debi Derryberry is an American voice actress who has provided voices for a number of animations and video games. Biography Derryberry was born in Indio, California to a family of Hungarian Jewish descent. Her grandparents were Holocaust surviv ...

as Alois *

Kousei Yagi is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with 81 Produce. Voice roles *Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto (Koma no Shouten-sama) * Blue Submarine No.6 (Kouichi Nakamura) *Galaxy Angel (Kryzman) *Genesis Survivor Gaiarth (Bangor III (Ep.1)) *Parasol ...

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

as Grandpa Jehan *

Honami Suzuki is a Japanese actress. Career Suzuki began acting after high school and debuted at age 19 in the television drama ''Asobi Ja Nai No Yo, Kono Koi Wa'' (TBS, 1986). Her breakthrough came in 1991 with the role of Rika in the Fuji TV television ad ...

Sean Young Mary Sean Young (born November 20, 1959) is an American actress. She is particularly known for working in sci-fi films, although she has performed roles in a variety of genres. Young's early roles include the independent romance ''Jane Auste ...

as the adult/Sister Alois *

Katsumi Toriumi is a Japanese voice actor from Saitama Prefecture. He works at Production Baobab. Toriumi performed with other voice actors on the album ''Everybody's Christmas''. Voice Roles *Hazuki in '' Pocket Monsters'' *Dalida Lolaha Chandra II in ''Mobile ...

Richard Cansino Richard Elias Cansino (born August 10, 1953) is an American voice actor. He is also known as Richard Hayworth because he is the nephew of Rita Hayworth. Richard is best known for his voice work as Kenshin Himura in the anime adaptation of ''Rurou ...

as the adult Paul *

Yuriko Fuchizaki is a Japanese stage actress and voice actress from Ōta, Tokyo. She is a graduate of the College of Fine Arts at Nihon University. She then moved to Sigma Seven in 1991, and on July 1, 2003, she moved to her current agency, REMAX. From 1987 to th ...

Lara Cody Lara Cody is an American voice actress. She also goes under the name Deanna Morris and is best known for voicing Rosemary in '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' and '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots''. Roles Anime *''A Little S ...

as the young Paul * Masato Hirano/

Randy Montgomery Randle John Montgomery (born August 12, 1947) was a National Football League cornerback and kick returner for the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears. After going to high school at Cleveland (Seattle, WA), Montgomery attended Everett JC and Weber St ...

as Hans *

Toshiyuki Morikawa is a Japanese voice actor, narrator and singer who is the head of Axlone, a voice acting company he founded in April 2011. His name is also sometimes mistranslated as Tomoyuki Morikawa. In 2003, he and Fumihiko Tachiki formed the band "2Hearts", ...

Scott Menville Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games. Life and career Menville was born on February 12, 1971, to television animator and writer C ...

as the adult George *

Yoshiko Kamei is a Japanese voice actress from Ibaraki Prefecture. She is affiliated with Mausu Promotion. Roles Animation *''Anime Himitsu no Hanazono'' (Bunny) *''Atashin'chi'' (Nursing practitioner, Hanae) *''Baby and Me'' (Tadashi Gotō, Taichi Kimura) * ...

Ryan O'Donohue Ryan Sean O'Donohue (born April 26, 1984) is an American actor. He is most notable for his performances as a voice actor in many Disney projects especially as Demyx in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game franchise. As a live-action actor, he was ...

as the young George * Yuko Sasaki as Nello's mother *

Bob Papenbrook Robert DeWayne Papenbrook (September 18, 1955 – March 17, 2006) was an American voice actor. Career Fellow voice actors often nicknamed him "Pappy". He was very well known in the worlds of anime and video game voice-overs for his voice acting o ...

as Ansole *

Sherry Lynn Sherry Lynn is an American voice actress who has played roles in anime, animated television series and video games. She portrayed Sasami Jurai in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. In January 2010, in terms of total film gross, she was the Highest ...

as Elina *

Michael McConnohie Michael McConnohie is an American voice actor, writer and director who has provided many voice roles in movies, anime, and video games. He and fellow actress Melodee Spevack run a production company called VoxWorks. Some of his major works includ ...

as Cogetz *

Matt K. Miller Matthew Kermit Miller is an American actor, stand-up comedian and playwright. He is also known as Kermit Miller and Kermit Beachwood. His best-known voice role in anime was Tenchi Masaki in the Pioneer dub of ''Tenchi Muyo''. He reprised the role ...

as Mr. Ike * Chris Carroll as Art Store Owner * Louise Chamis as Mrs. Nulette *

Brianne Siddall Brianne Siddall (born August 25, 1963 in Encino, California), also known under her stage names of Jetta E. Bumpy, Ian Hawk, Murray Blue, Jetta Bird, and Brianne Brozey, is an American voice actress. She is known for voicing Tommy Himi, Koromo ...

as Stephen *

Paul St. Peter Paul St. Peter is an American voice actor, who works on English-language productions of Japanese anime shows. He voiced Punch in '' Cowboy Bebop: The Movie'', Mondego in '' Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo'', Kurama in ''Naruto'', Razor in ' ...

as Art Judge #1 * Cliff Wells as Art Judge #2 *

Mari Devon Mari Devon (born October 10, 1959) is a retired American voice actress, best known as the voice of Togemon from ''Digimon Adventure'', Renamon from ''Digimon Tamers'', Tammy Nobi from '' Doraemon 2005'', Haruka Urashima from the ''Love Hina'' seri ...

as Mrs. Jestas Voices for orphan children provided by Jessica Evans, Dylan Hart, Sophie Lechken, Alex Mandelberg,

Bryce Papenbrook Bryce Austin Papenbrook (born February 24, 1986) is an American voice actor and martial artist who has done voice work for Funimation, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, Animaze, Studiopolis and Scoffer Studios. He has voiced in several anime ...

References in other media

The main opening theme song "Yoake-no Michi" (よあけのみち) has always been popular in Japan since the series' debut. It was featured in a daydream sequence in the live action adaptation of ''

Nodame Cantabile is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomoko Ninomiya. It was serialized in Japan by Kodansha in the ''josei'' manga magazine ''Kiss'' from July 2001 to October 2009 and collected in 23 ''tankōbon'' volumes. A two-v ...

'', starring ''

Juri Ueno is a Japanese actress. She first gained recognition in the 2005 film ''Swing Girls'' where she was a recipient of Newcomer of the Year prize at the Japanese Academy Awards. Ueno achieved mainstream success for playing the titular role in the live ...

'' and ''

Hiroshi Tamaki is a Japanese actor, singer, and model from Nagoya, Japan. When he was still in high school, he was discovered by a talent agent while out shopping with friends. He made his debut in the drama ''Am I Weird?'' (私ってへん？ ''Watashitte Hen ...

'', with the character of Nodame singing the song while taking a bath. It was also used in the anime adaptation of '' Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-'' as protagonist Subaru Natsuki's ringtone.

References

External links

''Dog of Flanders'' (TV)
at Nippon Animation's English website via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...